“The French apricot sector is in crisis,” explains Jérôme Jury, apricot producer and president of the ODG Qualité Fruits Plus. “We have not been able to sell our merchandise for a week. The 2022 campaign was great,” but this year's economic situation is particularly unfavorable for the small stone fruit.
Large volumes in three production basins
“Something is happening that we had not anticipated at all. A combination of circumstances have made marketing extremely complicated, starting with unfavorable weather conditions. There was a lot of rain in June in the south of France, which not only delayed the start of the campaign by 10 days, but also caused the apricots to ripen much more quickly. As a result, we are seeing a telescoping of both varieties and regions. Everything is ripening at the same time, and we end up with considerable quantities of produce on the market.”
Consumption impacted by political and social events
In addition to these production concerns, consumption is also lower due to the grim atmosphere currently prevailing in France. “Social and political events are creating a gloominess that is impacting consumption. Many stores were closed this weekend, and sales were very poor for 4 days, which had a major impact on the market. All chains announced a loss of 30 to 40%. This, combined with the excessive volumes, has brought the market to its knees.”
The positioning of some retail chains is detrimental to the sector
The third factor contributing to the current state of the market is the positioning of certain supermarket chains in this already delicate context. “First of all, certain retail chains and wholesalers have been very slow to open up the French lines. Spanish stone fruits were still found on the shelves before last week. But we have made a huge effort in recent years to improve the quality of our apricots. We pick them when they are ripe, we have improved the harvesting conditions, and we have eliminated the less flavorful varieties. The Covid crisis had brought about a new awareness of local and national consumption, but the pandemic is now behind us. Within 6 months, everything was forgotten due to the inflation. The behavior of some buyers and the atmosphere prevailing on the market go completely against our food autonomy. If we continue to sell below production costs, we will lose even more market shares.”
Red Label apricots struggle to find their place in this price war
As for the Red Label apricots, the start of the season was good, but the premium fruits are struggling to find their place in this price war. “At the beginning of the campaign, we even had more demand than supply. We were not able to label as many apricots as we would have liked because the Brix level was not high enough due to the rain. This was the case of the Orange Red variety that everyone was waiting for. And right now, in the low-price war waged by supermarkets, top-of-the-range products are finding it hard to gain a foothold. We are just trying to keep our heads above water.”
For more information:
Jérôme Jury
ODG Qualité Fruits Plus
Jerome.jury@wanadoo.fr
Anne-Lise Chaussabel
anne-lise.chaussabel@drome.chambagri.fr